This week, there was a storm on Jupiter--a radio storm. Amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft recorded the event on Dec. 23rd using a shortwave radio telescope located in New Mexico. Click here to hear the whooshing, crackling, popping sounds that emerged from his telescope's loudspeaker:

"Although few were aware of it, Earth was bathed in Jovian radio beams for an hour and half," says Ashcraft. "The audio recording captures the sounds I heard during one minute around 09:30 UT." Jupiter's radio storms are caused by natural radio lasers in the planet's magnetosphere that sweep past Earth as Jupiter rotates. Electrical currents flowing between Jupiter's upper atmosphere and the volcanic moon Io can boost these emissions to power levels easily detected by ham radio antennas on Earth. Jovian "S-bursts" (short bursts) and "L-bursts" (long bursts) mimic the sounds of woodpeckers, whales, and waves crashing on the beach. Here are a few audio samples:S-bursts, S-bursts (slowed down 128:1), L-Bursts Now is a good time to listen to Jupiter's radio storms. The distance between Earth and Jupiter is decreasing as the giant planet approaches opposition on Jan. 5th; and the closer Jupiter comes, the louder it gets. Jupiter is a bit like a lighthouse. It is possible to predict when the planet's most intense radio beams will sweep past Earth. The next storm is due on Dec. 30th between 10:00 and 11:00 UT. www.spaceweather.com

Note:[Messenger Spirit]In ancient Mesopotamia the planets were seen as gods in their own right. The planet Jupiter was known as Neberu (Nibiru?) and associated with the god Marduk. He was the patron god of Babylon, and considered equivalent to the older Sumerian god Enlil, the king of the gods, and hence associated with rulership and wisdom. In the Jewish cabbala, Jupiter is the fourth sphere, Mercy (Chesed). Chesed also lies on the pillar of creation between Chokmah (pure creative power) and Netzach (individualised images), representing archetypal ideas. http://www.skyscript.co.uk/jupitermyth.html

Christmas is over, but the amazing "Christmas conjunction" is still underway. As seen from NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft, the three planets Venus, Earth and Jupiter are clustered in a circle barely 2 degrees wide. The spacecraft's Heliospheric Imager took this picture on Dec. 26th:

Because of the holidays, this conjunction in space raises comparisons to a famous Christmas conjunction on Earth. According to some scholars, the Star of Bethlehem might have been a close encounter between Venus and Jupiter. The two brightest planets in the night sky, merged, would have made a spectacle so amazing that we still talk about it ~2000 years later. Unlike conjunctions of the distant past, this one includes our home planet. STEREO-B is located on the far side of the sun where it can look back and see Earth along with other worlds in the Solar System. From STEREO-B's point of view, Jupiter and Venus about 0.5 degrees apart. That is not nearly as tight as the putative Star of Bethlehem conjunction when those two planets were separated by as little as 6 arcseconds (0.00166 degrees). Nevertheless, the Christmas conjunction of 2013 is special because it includes Earth--the first time in history [a photograph of] such a conjunction is possible. Happy holidays from STEREO! www.spaceweather.com

Conversations with God ....On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know......that the reason so much of humanity commemorates this day is that so much of humanity seeks to give and receive love. During this holy time, know that all times are holy, thatevery religion holds truth, that each tradition is sacred, and that it is in the simple sharing of love that we make our beliefs come alive, and our dreams come true. Let this Christmas Day remind us that Christ came to invite us to offer love to all humankind, and to open the door of God's kingdom to every soul.Merry Christmas, everyone.

Conversations with God ....On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know......that this is the eve of the birth of the Christ as you. It is a re-birth, of course, for the Christ has always been there. On this special eve, may you experience that Presence in you, as you, through your sharing of the love that has been brought to you directly from God. The wonderful gift of Christmas is that it is not a one day or one time experience, but lasts the whole year through -- thanks to you. You are the gift, and as you give, so shall you receive.

According to some scholars, the Star of Bethlehem might have been a close encounter between Venus and Jupiter. The two brightest planets in the night sky, merged, would have made a spectacle of Biblical proportions. This Christmas, NASA's STEREO-B probe is observing a conjunction of three planets--Venus, Earth and Jupiter. UPDATED: Instead of Jupiter and Venus merging, however, the combined planets are Jupiter and Earth:

IMAGE 22 December 2013

UPDATED IMAGE 23 December 2013

Unlike conjunctions of the distant past, this one includes our home planet. STEREO-B is located on the far side of the sun where it can look back and see Earth along with other worlds in the Solar System. Only NASA's twin STEREO probes, equipped with their high dynamic-range Heliospheric Imagers, can witness this kind of conjunction. From STEREO-B's point of view, Earth and Jupiter are less than 0.5 degrees apart, while all three planets fit in a circle 3 degrees in diameter. This meeting is not nearly as tight as the putative Star of Bethlehem conjunction ~2000 years ago. At that time Venus and Jupiter could have been as little as 6 arcseconds (0.00166 degrees) apart. Nevertheless, the ongoing conjunction is still a beauty. Stay tuned for updates as the three planets converge. UPDATE: From STEREO-B's point of view, Earth and Jupiter are so close together that the spacecraft's Heliospheric Imager can barely tell the two apart. Venus is only 2 degrees from the Earth-Jupiter pair, so this is actually a 3-way conjunction. www.spaceweather.comNotes:[Messenger Spirit]In ancient Mesopotamia the planets were seen as gods in their own right. The planet Jupiter was known as Neberu (Nibiru?) and associated with the god Marduk. He was the patron god of Babylon, and considered equivalent to the older Sumerian god Enlil, the king of the gods, and hence associated with rulership and wisdom. In the Jewish cabbala, Jupiter is the fourth sphere, Mercy (Chesed). Chesed also lies on the pillar of creation between Chokmah (pure creative power) and Netzach (individualised images), representing archetypal ideas. _http://www.skyscript.co.uk/jupitermyth.html

Venus in myth is the goddess of love. In the Jewish Cabbala, Venus is the seventh sphere: Victory or Netzach. Situated at the base of the pillar of action, Netzach manifests the creative power in emotion and instinct, and all human creativity, both sexual and imaginative The latter includes the arts, and also the god-forms of polytheism, created by man in his own image, yet nevertheless reflecting something of the nature of the universe. Both desire and imagination are to some extent superficial. The term 'glamour' originally meant a magic illusion cast upon something, and the victory of Netzach involves triumphing over the glamour of its outer manifestations to reach that which they symbolise. An ancient text calls Netzach the Hidden Intelligence, "because its brilliant outpouring is received by those spiritual virtues which are seen, in the ecstasy of faith, only by the initiated". http://www.skyscript.co.uk/venusmyth.html

Conversations with God ....On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know......that there is a light which cannot ever be extinguished.It is inside of you. It is you. Let your light so shine upon the world that the world will know Who You Really Are -- and its people will know who they really are as well, through the light of your example. The darkness of our world awaits you -- not to engulf you, but to be transformed by you. During this Season of the Light, be its Source for all those who search for Joy.

Quantum Physics leads to the conclusion that this 'reality' is a thought in the mind of God/All That Is/Prime Creator. Every part of this reality is part of the infinite, eternal, loving Creator Spirit, and every part contains consciousness in varying degrees, including galaxies, stars and planets. All beings on Planet Earth (Gaia) are expressions of the Creator experiencingItselfas an evolving third dimensional planet within this 'thought reality' universe. Human Beings have aspects of divinity within the greater multidimensional partof our DNA - the part which cannot be measured by science ('junk DNA') - but as we have the gift of free will it is up to each one of us to choose whether or not to activate this DNA and remember our connection to God. The key to activating our divine DNA is Love, for ourselves and for our fellow Human Beings - as demonstrated by the evolved soul Jesus, a living example of the pattern we need to follow to achieve Christ Consciousness.

Our purpose in being here as individuated manifestations of the Creator is to remember Who We Are and to become divine Co-Creators with God, the greater Whole, in an eternally evolving Creation. High vibrational energy - Christ Consciousness/the 'Second Coming' - is now flooding this planet from the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy via our Sun and is helping to spiritually awaken those who are ready to receive this energy. This is an unprecedented opportunity for accelerated spiritual growth, for those who are ready. This is the time foretold in the Bible and in many ancient prophecies.

There is only one Being - the Creator/All That Is - and we are individuated expressions of that Being. And we are not alone in this intelligent, aware, loving Universe within the mind of the Creator. Messenger Spirit

Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Comet 8P/Tuttle, source of the annual Ursid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Dec. 22nd with as many as 10 meteors per hour streaming from a radiant near Polaris, the North Star. Occasionally, Earth hits a denser-than-usual patch of debris and rates increase 5- to 10-fold. However, no one can predict when these outbursts occur. Listen for Ursid echoes on Space Weather Radio. www.spaceweather.com

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life… “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. “One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego. “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. “This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”http://theunboundedspirit.com/two-wolves-a-precious-cherokee-parable/

On Dec. 19th, the European Space Agency launched one of the most ambitious astronomy missions ever: GAIA, an observatory that will survey more than one billion stars in the Milky Way. By the time GAIA's five year mission is over, astronomers will be able to build the first accurate three-dimensional map of celestial objects in our home galaxy. GAIA will do its work from the L2 Lagrange point approximately 1.5 million km from Earth. On Dec. 20th, amateur astronomer Dave Eagle of Higham Ferrers UK observed the spacecraft hurtling toward that distant station:

"It was great to see the spacecraft in the exact position predicted, near the shield of Orion," says Eagle. "After watching the launch live on the Web in the morning, I was glad to be able to track it down and wish it well in its coming mission. It was much brighter than I expected, so its newly deployed Sun shield is doing a great job." Once it reaches its L2 parking orbit and begins observing, GAIA will log the position, brightness and color of every star that falls within its field of view. By repeating these observations throughout its mission, astronomers will be able to calculate the distance, speed and direction of motion of each star GAIA sees, chart variations in their brightness, and determine whether they have nearby companions. This kind of detailed information about the Milky Way is unprecedented and may lead to important new discoveries about the evolution and structure of our galaxy. For updates about GAIA, stay tuned to the ESA. www.spaceweather.com

Next week, Comet Lovejoy makes its closest approach to the sun. The comet's tail is already amazing. Filled with knots and eddies of dusty plasma, Lovejoy's tails stretches more than 20 degrees across the sky--long enough to overlap 40 full Moons or fill the Bowl of the Big Dipper twice. At closest approach to the sun or "perihelion" on Dec. 23rd, the comet will be just inside the orbit of Earth (0.82 AU). The extra heating it gets at perihelion will grow the tail even more. Comet Lovejoy shines like a 4th magnitude star so it is barely visible to the unaided eye (especialy when the sky is filled with full moonlight). However, for backyard telescopes, the comet is a fairly easy target rising ahead of the sun in the eastern morning sky. If you have a GOTO telescope, send it to these coordinates. Slight pointing errors are no problem, because the tail is almost too broad to miss. Sky maps:Dec. 18, 19, 20. www.spaceweather.com

When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and face east. Jupiter and the Moon are in conjunction, only 5 degrees apart. It's a beautiful way to end the day. [sky map] [photo gallery] www.spaceweather.com

In Vanderhoff's image, the Moon is surrounded by a colorful lunar corona, caused by the diffracting action of water droplets and ice crystals in high clouds. "This was the most magnificent display of rainbow-colored clouds that I have ever seen," says Venderhoff. "A huge swath of cirrus clouds passed in front of the Moon, producing brilliant colors in several concentric bands. The bands undulated as the clouds moved across the face of the moon, propelled by strong upper level wind currents. I took multiple exposures and combined three frames using an HDR technique in Photoshop to capture and display the widest possible tonal range and color subtlety." The Moon and Jupiter are two of the three brightest objects in the night sky. (Venus is the other.) www.spaceweather.com

SPACE — The sun’s current space-weather cycle is the most anaemic in 100 years, scientists say. Our star is now at “solar maximum”, the peak phase of its 11-year activity cycle. But this solar max is weak, and the overall current cycle, known as Solar Cycle 24, conjures up comparisons to the famously feeble Solar Cycle 14 in the early 1900s, researchers said. “None of us alive have ever seen such a weak cycle. So we will learn something”, Leif Svalgaard of Stanford University told reporters here today (Dec. 11) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The learning has already begun. For example, scientists think they know why the solar storms that have erupted during Solar Cycle 24 have caused relatively few problems here on Earth. The sun often blasts huge clouds of superheated particles into space, in explosions known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Powerful CMEs that hit Earth squarely can trigger geomagnetic storms, which in turn can disrupt radio communications, GPS signals and power grids. But such effects have rarely been seen during Solar Cycle 24, even though the total number of CMEs hasn’t dropped off much, if at all. The explanation, researchers said, lies in the reduced pressure currently present in the heliosphere, the enormous bubble of charged particles and magnetic fields that the sun puffs out around itself. This lower pressure has allowed CMEs to expand greatly as they cruise through space, said Nat Gopalswamy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Indeed, Solar Cycle 24 CMEs are, on average, 38 percent bigger than those measured during the last cycle — a difference with real consequences for folks here on Earth. “When the CMEs expand more, the magnetic field inside the CMEs has lower strength,” Gopalswamy said. “So when you have lower-strength magnetic fields, then they cause milder geomagnetic storms.” –Space.com

Move over USA and Russia. China has joined the club of nations that has landed on the Moon. On Saturday, Dec. 14th, at 9:41 p.m. Beijing local time, China's Chang’e-3 lunar lander touched down in Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows. Hours later, a lunar rover named the Jade Rabbit ("Yutu" in Mandarin Chinese) emerged for a historic mission of exploration:

The six-wheeled, 260-lb rover is equipped with a Chinese-made nuclear battery expected to last for more than 30 years. The rover also has expandable solar arrays to absorb the sun’s energy during the day and retract at night to cover and protect equipment from temperatures of minus 170 degrees Celsius. Onboard sensors include a ground-probing radar, cameras, and a soil sampler. The United States has not performed a soft landing on the Moon since 1972 when Apollo 17 delivered astronauts Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt to the Taurus-Littrow valley. The former USSR last did it in 1976 with the sample return mission Luna 24. Now, after a surprising 37-year gap in lunar ground exploration, China has started making its own tracks in the moondust. Congratulations to the people of China for their successful landing and lunar ambitions. www.spaceweather.com